SUPER BOWL XXVI

SUPER BOWL XXVI; By Any Other Word, Tasker Is Special as Bills Look for an Edge

By TIMOTHY W. SMITH,

Published: January 22, 1992

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 21—
Steve Tasker sat in the stands of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome this morning, unnoticed and undisturbed, balancing a newspaper crossword puzzle on his left knee.

The scant attention paid to special-teams players leading up to Super Bowl Sunday leaves plenty of time to ponder "37 Across: Troglodytes' homes."

"It's a great way to kill time," Tasker said. "Our center, Kent Hull, got me into them about a month ago."

Hull, being an offensive lineman, knows about getting lost in the Super Bowl shuffle. And Tasker, who graduated from Northwestern in 1985 with a degree in communications and is the host of a television show during the football season in Buffalo, knows how the media works. That's why he figured he would have time for the crossword puzzle.

Tasker has become something of a wordsmith the last couple of years. Last year during team meetings, Tasker kept track of the multi-syllable words used by Coach Marv Levy.

"I sit next to Adam Lingner in meetings," Tasker said. "And everytime Marv would say something like, 'inculcate' or 'salient,' we'd look at each other, open our playbooks and write it down. By the end of the season, we had a whole list of three- and four-syllable words that Marv had used during the season. I'm not sure anybody knew what they meant." 3 Times in Pro Bowl

Tasker did, but the Bills don't keep him around for that reason. Tasker happens to be one of the premier special-teams players in the National Football League. He has been voted as the American Football Conference's Pro Bowl special-teams player three times (1988, 1990 and 1991).

If the Super Bowl XXVI matchup between the Bills and the Redskins turns out to be as close on the field as it is shaping up on paper, then a special-teams play, such as a blocked punt or kick return for a touchdown, could turn the game in either team's favor. And if something happens on the Bills' special teams, it is a safe bet that Tasker will be at the center of it.

"What Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett mean to us on defense and what Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas mean to us on offense, Steve Tasker means to us on special teams," said Bruce DeHaven, the Bills' special-teams coach.

"He can make big plays and it forces the opposition to account for him. We'll see people that will be operating in a certain manner for four or five games and they come in and play against us and change some things because of Steve."

Tasker's explanation for his special-teams prowess is part physical and part metaphysical. Many Assets

"A lot of it is the fact that I match up well against some people that I go against," Tasker said. "A big, strong guy has a hard time blocking me, because I'm a quicker guy and I can run around blocks a bit more easily, especially in the open field where a lot of kick-return plays take place. If I get matched up with a big guy who can't move laterally as well as I can, it helps me to make more plays.

"I also have a certain amount of speed, although not great speed. Plus, just a flat desire. I love to play special teams. I'm just happy to be on the team. I think that has a lot to do with it."

Tasker's studious nature clashes with the notion that good special-teams players blindly run down the field without regard for life and limb, hurling themselves at the closest opposing body. 'I Do a Lot of Thinking'

"Actually, I do a lot of thinking," Tasker said. "It's very technical and specific out there. Although it does cover a lot of field position, everybody has a specific assignment. I'm just trying to read my keys and carry out my assignments as well as I can, as fast as I can."

DeHaven said Tasker's approach is what the Bills teach.

"We're constantly stressing to them that effort and being tough is not enough, but they have to be smart," DeHaven said. "Most of the big plays that occur in the kicking games usually happen, because somebody breaks down and makes a mistake in their assignment.

"It's rarely because somebody makes a great effort or makes a big hit. Most of the time they're in the wrong position, don't use the good technique and they don't carry out their assignment."

A wide receiver in name alone, Tasker, at 5 feet 9 inches and 183 pounds, has a slight build and youthful face that make him look more like Dennis the Menace than a football terror. DeHaven said that Tasker's appearance is deceiving. 'A Great Athlete'

"He's a great athlete," DeHaven said. "People look at him and see his stature and see he's small. He can do a backflip. He can dunk a basketball. He was a sprint champion out in Kansas in high school."

Tasker competed in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprint and long jump at Wichita County High School in Leoti, Kan. He attended Dodge City Community College in Kansas for a year, before transferring to Northwestern University. He said he owed the newly hired Vikings coach, Dennis Green, who was the coach at Northwestern at the time, a debt of gratitude.

"He was the only major college coach who recruited me," Tasker said. "I went to Northwestern for the education and the fact that they played big-time football. Dennis Green had them on the upswing. They were running a pro-style offense and I liked the coaching staff. It was a great school and a experience for me." School Record-Holder

At Northwestern, Tasker set a school record for career average in yards per return in kickoffs (24.3) and punts (17.9). He was drafted in the ninth round by Houston as a return specialist in 1985. He missed the last nine games of the 1985 season with an injured right knee. The next year he played two games, then injured his left knee. When he healed, he was waived. The Bills claimed him and he played the last seven games of the 1986 season.

And now, in crossword lexicon: Across-1: What Steve Tasker is to the Bills? Answer: Indispensable.

Photos: Steve Tasker, the Bills' special-teams specialist, celebrating with a somersault after making a solid hit on a kickoff return. "I love to play special teams," he said. "I'm just happy to be on the team. I think that has a lot to do with it." (The New York Times, left; Barton Silverman/The New York Times)